Congress accuses H.D. Kumaraswamy of ‘power theft’ for Deepavali lighting
The Hindu
Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee chief and Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar congratulated former CM H.D. Kumaraswamy for admitting to the ‘power theft’.
The ruling Congress has accused JD(S) leader and former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy of of ‘power theft’.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter) on November 14, the Karnataka Congress shared a video showing a cable, stretching out from the terrace of Mr. Kumaraswamy’s residence at J.P. Nagar in Bengaluru, and connecting directly to a power line across the street.
Taking a jibe at Mr. Kumaraswamy, the Congress said: “If you were facing financial problems, you could have applied for Gruha Jyothi scheme, which ensures free power of up to 200 units per month. The JD(S) leader has been criticising the government’s guarantees, including free power to households.
Mr. Kumaraswamy clarified that the lighting was put up by a private decorator and the connection to the power line was removed after he found out about it. He hit out at the Congress for ‘making a big issue of a small thing’. The former Karnataka Chief Minister said he was open to an investigation by power authorities into the matter and would willingly pay a fine if served a notice.
Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee chief and Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar later congratulated Mr. Kumaraswamy for admitting to the ‘power theft’. Mr. Shivakumar said people in responsible positions should not indulge in such acts. “The government will not interfere in this. The department concerned or Bescom will take action,” he said.
“We are judges and therefore, cannot act like Mughals of a bygone era ... the writ courts in the guise of doing justice cannot transcend the barriers of law,” the High Court of Karnataka observed while setting aside an order of a single judge, who in 2016 had extended the lease of a public premises allotted to a physically challenged person to 20 years contrary to 12-year period stipulated in the law.
The High Court of Karnataka on Monday declined to interfere, at present, in the investigation against a Bharatiya Janata Party worker, who is among the accused persons facing charges of circulating obscene clips, related to “morphed” images and videos clips related to Prajwal Revanna, former Hassan MP, in public domain through pen drives and other modes.